The Nightmare Catcher
by Sake-kunXx
Summary: Rose and the Doctor return to present day Earth to find London plagued by a spate of disappearing children. But as a hard truth makes itself clear to Rose, the Doctor doesn't just have to face the demons of his past, but fight for his best friend's trust
1. School Bullies and Nightmare Creatures

Doctor Who and the Nightmare Catcher

Doctor Who and the Nightmare Catcher

The day that the Nightmare Catcher chose Danielle Higgs had been one of the best of her life. She always felt happy on Thursdays, for some reason. The only downer was when her English teacher had taken the pleasure of reading her poem in front of the class, which had, of course resulted in her being called Swat even more than usual. From notes to pen lids being throw at her, and even shouts across the room, the thicker members of her class decided to turn on her.

This was soon put to rights. The lead bully of the class, Lizzy Fielding, blank faced and rat haired, had been walking through the dinner hall, ready to give Danielle a nasty smile and a note when she slipped on a patch of spilled gravy, resulting in her lying face first in her plate of bangers and mash, right at Danielle's feet and a teacher, trying to help her up, finding the note and putting her in the behaviour unit for the next three days for its contents.

And life got better yet. Just as she was saying goodbye to her friends Leah and Jenny, Paul Rodgers (whom Danielle had had a crush on for nigh on three years) had finally plucked up the courage to ask her out. (Turns out he fancied her, but had always been too shy. Go figure.)

Still blushing madly, having made arrangements for their first date, Danni had pushed her way through the crowds and emerged on the Powell Estate Park. The day was warm and sunny, encouraging her to remove her stuffy blazer and sling it over her shoulder, revealing a white blouse and navy blue skirt, she took the time to wander though the park, listening idly to her IPod, imaging blissfully how the date next week would go.

It was a nice enough place to hang out, even though it was surrounded on three sides by tall, imposing council flats. The one side that wasn't choked with concrete and glass was a huge field that was usually packed with children playing fetch with their dogs or playing football and there was also a small, enclosed play area that had attracted a younger Danni many a time. Today, however, it was deserted.

In fact, she was half glad that it was empty, it meaning that she had the place to herself. She opened the squeaky gate to the play area and dreamily walking over to the set of swings, a lazy smile on her face as she sat on the only one that seemed to have avoided the destruction wreaked upon its fellows by Happy-slapping Hoodies listening to the latest chavy ringtones and ignoring their ASBO orders. The opposing climbing frame had evidently had a visit from these hooligans, now covered in crude images and words. A child's shoe lay unwanted on its side, the decoration flowers moving in the gentle wind as if trying to attract attention. Danni's mind was somewhere else, however, taking a leisurely wander through possible scenarios of her date. She started to rock gently back and forth absent-mindedly while the cool breeze gently ruffled her dark hair as her deep brown eyes stared out into space, listening to _My Chemical Romance_ on her IPod.

Perhaps, if she hadn't had her eyes closed, her brain preoccupied with thoughts of romantic walks in the park and sharing popcorn at the cinema, she would have noticed that the sun had been suddenly blocked out, and that all the nearby street lamps had turned on automatically.

Maybe, had she not have had _Famous Last Words_ blaring in both her ears, she might have heard the warning footsteps echoing sinisterly behind her.

However, having removed her uncomfortable blazer, she definitely felt the scabrous, death-chilled hands grabbed her arms. As she was about to cry out another, impossible hand appeared, snaking its way over her lips, making her gag as she breathed in the putrid stench of its festering flesh. She tried to scream but the webbed hand over her mouth somehow managed to silence all sound that she made. Another hand gently dislodged her earphones, pulling them out of her ears. The creature whispered in her ear, a cruel parody of a lover's sweet nothings as the smell of its decaying breath threatened to overwhelm her, a blue finger tenderly tucking a long strand of brown hair behind her ear.

'Hush little baby, don't you cry…' Sang the grating voice, somehow neither male nor female, but instead passing over both.

Unnatural sleep reached out for her, its warm tendrils beckoning her, pulling her from the thing that had filled her childhood nightmares. Her head lolled forward, her eyes flickering shut. The second they closed, the girl and the monster from under her bed disappeared, the clouds that had hid away the sun vanishing with them, the sound of the small screen breaking as the IPod and blazer fell beside the lost shoe, the muted voices of the singers still issuing from the earphones as the song changed. The cracked display showed the auto-selected song, unaware of its own accuracy.

_Disenchanted._


	2. Concerts and Showers

The Doctor, covered from his messy hair to his sodden, converse-clad feet in mud, tumbled through the doors of the TARDIS, laughing like a loon, followed immediately by a breathless Rose, who was in much the same state

The Doctor, covered from his messy hair to his sodden, converse-clad feet in mud, tumbled through the doors of the TARDIS, laughing like a loon, followed immediately by a breathless Rose, who was in much the same state. The Doctor closed the door behind her, turning, standing on his soggy laces and falling face first on the cold grille flooring. A hand grabbed Rose in an attempt to keep his balance, but only succeeded in bringing her crashing down on top of him and they both landed in a filthy, giggling pile.

'Oh! My! God! That was the best concert I have ever been to!' Rose laughed crazily, trying helplessly to disentangle herself from the Doctor's long brown coat. 'We so have to do that again one day!'

'Get up. You weigh a ton!' Was the muffled response from the uncomfortable pile of bones and brown material beneath her.

'Oi! Watch it!' she said, making sure to elbow him on her way up. 'Unless you want a slap from a Jackie-in-training.'

'Ow! And you should watch where you're pokin me! I bruise easily.'

'Maybe it's a sign that you're getting old,' Rose grinned as she lent over to offer the Doctor a hand, which he took gratefully.

'Oof! I think we could both do with wash after a day like that. I'm getting in the shower first!'

'Err... about the shower,' the Doctor replied carefully, brushing dried mud off his coat and taking off blue tinted glassed and his tie. The tie that he had knotted around his forehead in the excitement of the concert.

'What?' she asked, knowing that look, 'what have you done now? You better not have turned it into a short range teleport again. I'm still showering in a bikini after the last time.

'No!' he assured her, but still pulling at his ear lobe in obvious nervousness, 'It's just… when I was rewiring the Ion dissuading crystals, I _may_ _possibly_ have mistakenly damaged the emersional heating system, resulting-'

'In English, please'' Rose interrupted, rolling her eyes.

The Doctor sighed, his head dropping in defeat. 'I broke the water heater.'

'Oh you are so kidding me!' Rose said, hands on hips.

The Doctor didn't look up, instead scuffing his filthy shoes on the metal grille flooring, his hands clasped behind his back as he swayed slowly. Her heart softened at the child-like action, her hands dropping to her sides.

'Well,' she sighed, inspecting the large lumps of dirt in her hair. 'I think mum's just gonna have to call a plumber after I've got all this mud out of my hair.'

'Oh, do we have to go to your mother's?' the Doctor cried out, his head shooting up to look at her in horror. 'Of all the places in the universe that I can take you! I can take you anywhere, anywhere you want! We can go to the planet Aquarquan! 99 of the entire planet is made up of water; the most amazing waterfalls that you have _ever_ seen, and the water is half alive, so it won't ever let you drown! And before you ask, no it won't try to eat you. But I'll take you anywhere that you want, but for the love of Rassilion, not _there_!'

'_"There"_ is where I was born if you don't mind,' Rose said, giving him a poke, affecting at a hurt expression. 'Why are you in such a mood? I'd have thought this would have been one of the best days of your life. Werewolf last night, Knighthood in the morning and Ian Dury and the Blockheads in the afternoon! And I even let you get ice-cream. C'mon, give us a smile. Please!'

She stood there for a moment, giving him a pleading look; the big, eyelash batting puppy dog eyes. For a moment he refused to look at her. 'I don't wanna,' he wailed. 'It's boring!'

'Please Doctor. If you do this for me I'll…' she closed her eyes, breathing in deep. This needed the big guns. She was really going to regret this. 'I'll tell you where I've hidden one- and I say one! - box of Jelly Babies.'

That made him look up. His face broke into a crooked grin, grabbing her in an ecstatic hug and swinging her around, placing her feet back on the ground before he bounced excitedly over to the bronze mushroom in the centre of the impossibly huge domed room, spinning a little wheel here, doing something energetic with a bike pump there and before long the room was filled with an unnatural blue light that signified the flight of the TARDIS, laughing all the time, spinning himself as he whooped for joy at the prospect of sweets.

_iWhat have you done?!/i _The TARDIS whispered in her head, true fear in her voice.

_iTell me about it_./i Rose replied, swallowing hard. But as she looked up at the Doctor, a grin came unbidden to her mouth.

She could never resist smiling at him.

'Now you're gettin' it!' She followed to stand next to him, watching him skipping and spinning around the control panel like a hyper, sugar-high kid. i_If this is what he's like now, what is he gonna be like when he gets his hands on those sweets? /i_She shuddered.

The Doctor stopped in his excited dance to dazzle her with his most fabulous smile. 'Next stop, the Powell Estate, London, Earth!' He beamed, pulling one final lever before both of them were thrown savagely to the floor by a particularly violent tremor as the ancient ship took off.

Jackie Tyler, bottle blonde and smoky eyed filled the kettle for yet another cup of tea, having only just finished her daily twenty minute phone call to Bev from down the road when she heard the key turn in the lock and the front door open.

'Mum, it's us!' she heard her daughter call from the hall, her voice accompanied by the rattling of her keys dropping into the metal tray beside the door. 'We're back!'

'Yeah, we're back,' i_he/i_ continued, sounding considerably less happy about the fact.

Putting the kettle back on the table top, Jackie ran through, tears shining in her eyes, 'Rose! Honestly, if I've told you once, I've told you a million times, I bought you that phone so you could call me! Are you alright? Come here!'

She held Rose at arms length, looking her over before pulling her into a tight hug, squealing and swaying on the spot.

iOf all the languages the TARDIS translates, why not girly?/i He mused, trying to sneak past without being noticed before they permanently damaged his hearing.

'Oh, no you don't!' Jackie said, grabbing him by the arm and turning him on the spot and laughing as he tried to conceal the flinch of fear that racked his body 'Come here big fella!' she pulled him into a tight hug, before pulling his face down to press a hard kiss on his lips and pulling him back into a hug, winking conspiratorially to her grinning daughter. When at last she let him go and followed her daughter into the living room, the Doctor was standing in shock, wiping his lips in disgust.

It was then that he noticed Rose smiling at him smugly, her tongue poking out from the corner of her mouth as her eyes seemed to say _ha-ha she got ya_.

She winked at him before turning to her mother and grinning, 'Ya be'er watch it mum, it's Dame Rose now. And he's Sir Doctor of TARDIS!'

'What are ya babblin' on about now?' Jackie said, crossing her arms and sitting on the arm of the couch as the Doctor wandered into and around the room, keeping a weary eye open for any more Jackie attacks.

'Oh, you'll never believe it! We met Queen Victoria herself!'

'What? You mean, you actually met royalty… dressed like that?'

Rose looked down at her self, seeing the state of her clothes and the shortness of her skirt. 'Yeah, she did have a bit of a problem with that, but I'll explain later. But, anyway, not only did we meet her, but we saved her from these ninja… warrior… monk guys in 1879 who set loose this werewolf who wanted to bite her so it could turn the world into its empire, only we stopped it and, as a reward, she knighted us. And, talking of rewards, that reminds me!' she turned to face the Doctor 'You still owe me a tenner! Cough up "_Sir Doctor_!"' She demanded, rolling her eyes at the title, holding out one hand expectantly, the other placed firmly on her hip.

The Doctor patted his pockets 'No cash, sorry.'

'So, hang on, let me get this straight!' Rose said, putting the other hand on her hips and giving him a look that would make most people cower. 'If _you_ had of won you would have made me pay, but as it is, I won and you get of scott free!'

'Ooh, you sound just like your mother. No offence, Jackie.'

Rose looked at her mum. 'You know mum. Sometimes I think you were right about him.'

'Why, what did she say about me?' He demanded.

'What are you two on about?' Jackie said, exasperated, looking between them, hoping desperately to get some sense out of them.

'Well, we made a bet that I could get Her Maj' to go: "We are not amused" and she did so this cheapskate owes me a tenner.'

'Right. Forget I ever asked. So, c'mon, tell me how on Earth did you get so filthy?'

'Well, you see, after Queen Victoria knighted us, she kinda... banished us from Earth, never to return, which is kinda difficult 'cause at the time I still hadn't been born so... it's all very confusing. So we went to see Ian Dury at the Top Rank, Sheffield on the 21st of November 1979, where we had been aiming to start with, until I let this muppet,' she elbowed the Doctor in the ribs, 'at the controls!'

'It's good to be a lunatic!' The Doctor sang happily before switching to his Scottish accent, 'and I'll teach you to mind your tongue, you wee timorous beastie.'

'Shut up!' Rose said, slapping him on the arm. 'Do you know where we ended up the first time he tried to land here, a few minutes ago? I'll tell you where. A little girl's bedroom, in the middle of the night, nowhere near here. Terrified she was, poor thing. We ended up telling her the old favourite; "You're dreaming." I just hope her mum and dad didn't come in and see us.'

'Oh, it's fine. Stop nagging would you. We got here in the end didn't we?' The Doctor said defensively.

'I give up on you. So, can we use your shower, mum? Only this useless lump somehow managed to break the water heater. He spends all blummin' day under that console, but does he have the time to fix something important like the hot water? Of course not!'

'For your information, Rose Tyler, I was in the middle of fixing it when you came out. Another few minutes and it would have been ready to re-attach to the heating mainframe.'

'Then why didn't you do that just now?'

'Because you promised Jelly Babies,' he pointed out, 'I wasn't gonna give up the chance of Jelly Babies by telling you that it could easily be fixed now was I?'

Rose sighed, dropping her head. 'I knew mentioning sweets was a bad idea. So can I leave you alone with this…' words failed her as she waved a hand at the Doctor, 'err… well, this 900-year old child while I use your shower, mum?'

Jackie sat down heavily on the arm of the sofa, dazed, her brain overloading with everything that had been said in the three minutes that her daughter had been home.

'Sure, no problem. Just don't use all my smellies,' Was all that she could say.

'Try not to kill each other, yeah?' Rose left the room, but came back a second later and casually added ' Oh... and before I forget mum... We think that there is a _slight_ possibility that the Royal family are Werewolves. Just thought you should know.'

Rose left the room in a stunned silence, the Doctor bouncing awkwardly on the balls of his feet and whistling through his teeth.

'I'll put the kettle on,' Jackie said finally 'I don't know about you, but I could do with a cuppa.'

'Just milk in mine, thanks,' he called, rummaging through the pile of magazines on the coffee table. i_When was that replaced?_/i He wondered, smiling at the memory of his first visit to 48, Bucknall house. Rose had fallen through the glass table, a dismembered plastic arm trying to rip her face off. Shaking the memory from his mind, he continued searching for something with a bit more substance than the glossy mags that talked of the Atkins diet, of the GI diet, or how this celeb had got married or had shaved her head or "What to wear this season!"

At the bottom of the pile he found at last a copy of the local newspaper, crinkled and with a tea stain in the corner of the page. His eyes scanned the front page in a second, seeing instantly why Jackie had been so relieved to see them. June 30th. It had been six months since they had fought with the Sycorax and left for New Earth.

He glanced over to where Jackie was patiently waiting for the kettle to boil, sorting out the cups and tea bags and he felt a small twinge of guilt. He had caused that woman so much pain, and yet he hardly ever took the time to think about it. He shook his head, turning his attention back to the newspaper and flicking through it quickly.

Just a few pages in his eyes alighted on an article about missing children in the area.

'Jackie?' he called, looking through the delivery hatch at her, 'How long have these kids been going missing?'

'What are you wittering on about now?' she walked through, handing him his cup and looking over his shoulder at the article. 'Oh, that. Yeah I heard from Bev that loads of the kids this side of the Thames have gone. Why? You're not gonna turn this into a big alien fiasco, are ya? I've only just got my daughter home and you're already looking for a way to steal her away from me.'

She went back in the kitchen, bringing in the jar of sugar, during which the Doctor took the chance to take a sip of his tea, only to quickly spit it back into the cup. Cheapo teabags, too much milk.

'Trust me Jackie, I would never turn this into something it wasn't,' he said honestly, hiding his disgust as she walked back in, 'you won't believe me, but all I've ever looked for is a quiet life. The thing is, the universe doesn't seem to like that idea. Seems wherever I go, trouble seems to follow.'

'You know, I think you're right.' Jackie said, nodding.

'I am?'

'Yeah. I don't believe you. It's like I said last Christmas; you two go looking for trouble.'

'Did I hear the word trouble? I wonder who you could ever be talking about,' Rose asked, affecting puzzlement as she walked in donned in a fluffy pink bathrobe, to which the Doctor gave a sly wolf whistle, 'I'd watch it if I were you. You're never too old for a slap and I can always withdraw that offer of Jelly Babies.'

'Now, Rose Tyler, that's cheating. You can't go back on deals after you've already got your part of the bargain, that's just not cricket.'

He suddenly seemed slightly distant, 'Ooh, I wouldn't mind a stick of celery right now.'

'What?' Jackie asked, her brow furrowed.

'Sorry, just a bit of connective thinking. Anyway, I found something interesting in the newspaper if you fancy a look.'

'I'll have a look after, but I'm just gonna get changed. I don't think this is a good look for running for my life, do you?'

The Doctor looked her up and down, 'I dunno, I think it could be the new thing. I can just see it; Lara Croft, swinging through tombs in a pink bathrobe. I'd like to see that, in fact I'd-'

He was cut off mid-babble by a sharp slap to the back of the head.

'What was that for?' the Doctor asked, rubbing his head, 'I was trying to complement you on your taste of-'

He ducked under another hand.

'Listen, I shouldn't be long,' Rose said, 'Just… don't talk my mum to death while I'm gone, yeah? I'll be two minutes.'

Twenty minutes later, Rose was finally ready to go.

'You see!' the Doctor said, standing up as at last Rose emerged from her room, fully dressed, made up and hair done, 'This is why it's such a pain travelling with women.'

'What's the matter with you now?' Rose said, rolling her eyes as she pulled her pale green parka over her powder blue top.

'You! You take more hours getting ready than there are in a Xanrith day!'

'That's because if I didn't then most people wouldn't i_give_/i me the time of day! Anyway, even if I'm gonna be fighting bog monsters from the planet... Zog, I've got a reputation 'round here that I need to uphold if you don't mind,' Rose answered calmly, flicking her curled blond hair from her face.

'I'll have you know, Miss Tyler, that the Zogrons are a perfectly peaceful race, and that it's a common misconception that their planet spawns creatures of evil.'

'Is he serious?' Jackie whispered to her daughter.

'Mum, learn from me. I've travelled with him long enough to just… smile and nod when he pauses for breath. Otherwise, you're just gonna get a head-ache that would slay a dragon. Anyway Doctor, Mickey said that he had some info that might interest you.'

'What? Wait, wait wait a minute! You've only been home for half an hour. When did you talk to Mr Rickey boy?' The Doctor interrupted, crossing his arms like a sulky teenager.

If Rose hadn't known the Doctor better, she could have sworn that he looked jealous.


	3. Nasty Discoveries and True Friends

'Well… there ain't been no UFO sightin's, from what I've gathered

'Well… there ain't been no UFO sightin's, from what I've gathered. Well, none that I can find on the Army databases,' Rose, Mickey and the Doctor had all piled into Mickey's poky little bedroom, the Doctor having to slip on his chunky-framed glasses to read the text on the screen. The geek-chic glasses that always meant that Rose paid them more attention than what she was meant to be looking at, 'but, you've gotta bear in mind that there's only so deep that I can go before it all starts gettin' blocked and classified,' to prove the point, he clicked an icon. Out of the icon, a little box appeared, inscribed with the legend 'TORCHWOOD- ACCESS DENIED' 'From what I ican/i gather, most of the kids have gone from London, mostly this side of the embankment.'

'Yeah, Jackie was telling me about it,' the Doctor said, 'Nice work, Rickey.'

'It's Mickey. And yeah, this thing's been 'It's Mickey. But yeah, this thing's been keepin' me on my toes ever since you left. I heard about it from Aunt Marie to start wiv, yeah, but then-'

'What?' Rose cut in, 'You mean this thing's been goin' on since Christmas?'

'Pretty much, yeah.'

'But mum said it only started a few weeks ago.' The Doctor had told her how long they'd been away. Just how many children had been taken by this thing?

'Yeah, well it's only just been released by the media, innit? See, they didn't want everybody getting' worried, did they? Plus, to start wiv, there was only a few kids goin' at a time. You know how they are at that age, always wanderin' off.'

'Just like you Rose,' The Doctor said, crossing his arms in disdain. '"Rule one" I always say; "Rule one; don't wander off". Nobody ever listens to me.'

'_As I was saying_. No-one took any more notice than usual. But yeah... if you know where to look you can almost see the exact moment when the police started gettin' worried. And what makes it worse is that there is no way of tellin' when, where or even who's next. These things, whatever they are, they don't seem to be bothered about who they take. Girls, boys, big kids, little kids, fat kids, skinny kids, it don't make no difference to these fings. These kids are literally being snatched off the streets. And it's not even as if their old enough to be off boozin' or anythin'. I mean, I know the drinkin' age is gettin' worse or wha'ever, but these are sweet lil seven year olds. Most of them seem to be taken on their way home from school, or when their out with their mates, you know, when they get separated.'

It sounded like he'd been rehearsing this information for when she finally came home. Rose felt sorry for him. Whenever she came home, he had to endure listening to her going on and on about all the wonderful things the Doctor had shown her, then her just disappearing off again, back to the stars. Leaving him down here when she left, sitting at home, on his own and doing research for them to have when they eventually came home.

She could be such a heartless cow sometimes.

'Do you have any addresses of the kids that went missing?' The Doctor inquired as he removed his glasses, chewed one of the arms thoughtfully.

'How did I know you'd ask?' said Mickey, holding up some sheets of A4 paper with a flourish, which the Doctor snatched, as if he had wanted to have a go at Mickey for something.

'Ooh, he doesn't like it when I know more about somefin' than him, does he?' Mickey laughed, a huge grin playing across his face.

Rose looked at the sheets over the Doctor's shoulder. Then she gasped. 'Oh, my God. Danielle Higgs. That's my mate Shareen's little sister. She's only a few years younger than me.'

Rose felt sick. There were three or four other sheets, each with about thirty names and addresses.

'Yeah, and that's only in the London area. I never even thought there was that many kids in London. The ages seem to range between seven and fifteen. That is, all the ones we know about so far,' Mickey said distantly, concentrating on his computer again.

The Doctor's face broke into a crooked grin, still looking at the paper in his hands. 'Looks like we've got mystery to... Rose?' His face fell. Rose was standing in Mickey's tiny little hall, her back to him. She sniffed heavily. She hadn't realised that he could see her in the mirror hanging on the wall in front of her, didn't realise that he could see the tears running soundlessly down her face.

'Rose? Are you alright?' He asked her softly. 'Listen, I promise I'm gonna sort this out. I'm gonna get those kids back. Trust me on this.' He put his arm round her shou Rose felt sick. There were three or four other sheets, each with about thirty names and addresses.

'Yeah, and that's only in the London area. I never even thought there was that many kids in London. The ages seem to range between seven and fifteen. That is, all the ones we know about so far,' Mickey said distantly, concentrating on his computer again.

The Doctor's face broke into a crooked grin, still looking at the paper in his hands. 'Looks like we've got mystery to... Rose?' His face fell. Rose was standing in Mickey's tiny little hall, her back to him. She sniffed heavily. She hadn't realised that he could see her in the mirror hanging on the wall in front of her, didn't realise that he could see the tears running soundlessly down her face.

'Rose? Are you alright?' He asked her softly. 'Listen, I promise I'm gonna sort this out. I'm gonna get those kids back. Trust me on this.' He put his arm round her shoulder, but she shrugged it off angrily.

She spun round. 'We're supposed to be the ones who stop this from happenin'!' She yelled in his face, shoved him away. 'We're supposed to be the ones who stop it before it gets this bad! And where were we when all those kids were being taken? Eating ice-creams in New New York! Having a laugh with Queen Victoria! Watching a flamin' concert, that's where!' She pushed him again. Though there was no real strength behind it, 'We should have got here sooner.'

'Rose…'

'No!' she pushed past him, away from his attempt at a comforting hand, walking into the kitchen and bracing herself against the work surface.

She had expected to hear his soft footsteps as they entered the room. For him to try again to comfort her. To sink into his arms and to accept his apologies and his promises. She hadn't expected to hear the front door closing in the hall. She hadn't expected to find herself spinning on the spot and unable to move for precious moments.

'Doctor?' she whispered, all anger evaporating instantly, and a quiver in her voice now for completely different reasons, 'Doctor!' she ran to the door, wrenching it open and almost throwing herself over the balcony in her haste to find him, apologise, something, anything.

But he was gone.

She looked around, franticly searching for a swish of a coat, the echo of his footsteps, a closing door.

There was nothing.

She swallowed, going back into the flat. Closing the door behind her and leaning on it heavily. Sliding down to sink into the carpet, pulling her knees up to her chest.

She'd blown it.

London, Earth, the twenty-first century. It wasn't his problem; not really. He only came back because she asked and bribed him with Jelly Babies. He didn't deserve abuse from her like that. To tell him that it was his fault.

She thought of the look of pure hurt in his eyes as she shouted in his face, unnoticed in the heat of the moment. She had made him look like that.

i I wouldn't blame him if he never wanted me back/i she thought, lolling her head back as disgust flooded through her.

'Trouble in paradise?' Mickey asked from his doorway, shocking her out of her musing. She'd forgotten he was here.

She stood up quickly, brushing her backside of whatever filth had accumulated in the time she hadn't been there to hoover his flat. She wiped her eyes, sniffed, 'Mickey, can…' she started hoarsely. She cleared her throat, looking at him properly for the first time.

She swallowed.

She had anticipated a smug grin, or at least a suppressed smile. Instead she found his eyes filled with understanding and empathy.

'Can you… er… can you print off another set of those addresses? Please,' she said, self-conscious.

'No problem, babes,' he said softly, winking at her comfortingly. He disappeared for a second, but popped back out for a second, 'Oh, and Rose? He'll be back. He's not gonna leave over a lil tiff like that. Yeah, you might have bruised his ego, but… as much as I hate to admit it, that guy… he cares for you. Perhaps he cares about you a lil too much. But it's gonna take a lot more'n that to make him let go.'

He walked away, leaving Rose staring at the place he'd been standing, taken aback by his beautiful speech.

Tears of a different kind trickled down her cheeks.


	4. Investigation and Creatures of the Past

Shareen and Catherine Higgs sat silently on the couch, watching the news

Shareen and Catherine Higgs sat silently on the couch, watching the news. Their eyes were red and tearstains marked their faces from hours- no, days- of crying. Crying for their lost child. They had sat watching the news, day after day, hoping, waiting for news about Danni.

Still there was nothing.

There was no tears left to shed, but still they watched. They couldn't sleep, daren't sleep for fear of missing something on the news. Four days now, since Danni didn't come home from school. Four days of panic, calls to the police, calls to friends and family, calls to teachers.

Still there was nothing.

The doorbell rang in the hall, making both women jump, their nerves frayed as it was.

'I'll get it,' Shareen said hoarsely, wiping her face of tears and attempting to tidy her hair, 'It could be something about Danni.'

While neither of them really believed that anymore, having spent days living on false hope, they smiled and acted like it was true.

She opened the door, her eyes alighting on a tall, slender man. He had a boyish face, about early thirties maybe, with hair so wild it seemed to never have made acquaintances with a comb and dark, soulful eyes. Eyes that held within their chocolate depths a darkness; an endless chasm that seemed to pull Shareen in, eyes that showed age and knowing beyond the young face in which they took residence. But there was obvious kindness in them, too.

He seemed to be all brown. Brown hair and eyes, but then there were also his clothes. Tan coat, drifting on the wind; pinstriped suit; silk tie. Mud encasing his sneakers.

The look that he showed the second before he smiled; however, that was what really struck Shareen. That was what got her attention. The embodiment of the feelings that were swooping around her mind. The tightness of his jaw. The tenseness that radiated from him in waves.

The pain in his eyes.

This was a man stricken by the loss of something close to him. Something very dear. And yet he was a man hiding his despair.

Then, in a single, infinitesimal moment, before his face broke into that dazzling smile that wiped his previous sadness from her mind, Shareen saw this man more open than he had since the war.

But then he was smiles and cheeriness, kind voice and authority.

'Hullo, I'm the… um, Detective inspector… on the case of the missing children in this area,' he routed through the pocket of his suit, producing a battered leather wallet from his pocket and showing her with a flourish, 'DI John Smith. I'm here to help.'

i _Slightly psychic paper to the rescue, yet again /i_ the Doctor thought as the young woman in front of him ushered him inside and lead him to the living room.

Shareen introduced herself, as well as her mother; Catherine- 'Please, call me Cathy,'- and was offered a cup of tea.

'No, I'm fine, thank you. I've had one already at…' he cut himself off, frowning slightly, 'doesn't matter. Anyway, erm, down to business. How long has it been since you last saw Danielle?'

'We've already told the police everything we know,' Cathy said, exhaustion written across her face.

'Ah, well, you see, I'm new on this case. Just got transferred from… Hyde… division. Just finished a very long undercover op, you know. So, yeah, I was just chucked straight into this case without as much as a brief. So,' he treated them to his biggest, most winning grin, 'fill me in.'

'Cathy sighed. This must be hard for her, telling a complete stranger all about her lost child yet another time. 'Well, it was Friday that she went missing. Her teachers marked her in, so she didn't try to bunk off or anything. Not that she would… she's a good kid, our Danni…' Cathy trailed off, blinking away tears, 'I'm sorry, Mr Smith…'

'It's alright, take as long as you need,' the Doctor said kindly.

She wiped away her tears, took a shaky breath and forced herself to continue, 'So it must have been on her way home from school. As I'm sure you know it was a nice day. She usually takes her time coming home if the weather's worth it. They found her blazer at the park, but they think her IPod was nicked. You know what the scum 'round here are like. Nick anyfin' that's not nailed down.'

'The park? That would be the park near the Powell estate, am I right?' the Doctor interrupted.

'That's right. It's on the way back from her school. She walks home alone; none of her friends really live around her, so there's no point walking with anyone else. Which, of course means we don't really know what happened. We didn't really start worrying 'til… about half six. We called around her friend's houses, but they've seen nothing of her. She's a nice kid, our Danni, but I got the feeling she didn't make friends very easily. Like I say, she does well in school, but I think that may be the source of the problem. I kept finding all these notes in her blazer, stuff like 'swat', but you know what kids can be like at that age, all hormones. She got angry and told me to mind my own business.'

She turned to Shareen, 'Look, love, you can answer the rest of the Detective Inspector's questions, can't you? I just need a cup of tea,' she turned her attention to the Doctor, 'I hope you don't mind.'

'No no, not at all. I'm sure this is a difficult time for you.'

She smiled her thanks, standing and leaving the room.

'So, Shareen, could you tell me the names of Danni's friends?'

Rose wasn't having much luck. Without the help of the psychic paper, none of the parents of the lost children were interested in talking to her. The last visit hadn't gone exactly to plan, to say the least. At the thought, Rose gingerly rubbed her nose. The mother of a lost twelve year old boy had told her, quite eloquently, where Rose could shove it and slammed the door in her face.

Literally.

It didn't seem to be bleeding anymore, but that didn't mean it stopped hurting.

i Why did I have to go open my big fat gob! /i Rose thought for the umpteenth time since she left the flat.

She had gone to check the TARDIS first, in case the Doctor had gone there, but it had been empty. A hum from the ship had told her that before she had even stepped through the doors. A second hum had told her to let the Time Lord in question cool of for a bit, to just do her best without him.

So she had done the same as she knew he would; walk around all the houses in the area that had lost children and ask questions about their disappearance. Not that it had done her much good.

She snapped out of her musings as she became aware of her surroundings, a smile gracing her lips- if a very small one- for the first time since she left Mickey's. Knowing the area so well, her feet had led her to the regular haunt of Rose in her younger years.

The park.

She knew that it had been done up lately, but you wouldn't know to look at it. Scallies had obvious chosen this place as their new canvas, the slides and climbing frame adorned with their… art. Without even needing to think about it, Rose pushed the gate open, stepping into the play area and walking over to the tattered remains of the swings.

The smile returned, a little brighter this time.

The only swing that had survived. It had always been the one she favoured. She sat on the seat of the swing, winding her arms around the metal chain, contemplating her apologies to the Doctor later.

He would understand, wouldn't he? After all, he had said things that he didn't mean when he got angry or upset.

She rocked gently, zipping up the parker around her. Was it just her or was it getting colder?

She rocked back and forth, gently sighing. Backed her self into a corner now, hadn't she?

At least the breeze was getting warmer.

The cold wind hit her in the face, making her blink. Then she realised something.

Why was the breeze on her neck seem so much warmer than the wind in her face?

And why was it growling?

She jumped away from the swing, turning quickly to see a huge beast, saliva dripping from its jaws at it watched her.

A werewolf.

iThe/i werewolf.

The werewolf that she had seen die only hours ago.

'Who are you then? Prince Harry? Queen Elizabeth?' she asked, trying to keep calm as adrenalin coursed though her veins, the little voice in her head (one that seemed to have taken on the Northern accent that she so missed) shouted "Run, Rose, run!"

Just as she was about to turn to make her escape, an all too familiar stench filled her nostrils, accompanied by the childish giggle that she remembered so well.

There, right behind her, blocking her way with its great belly and even bigger claws, was a Slitheen. Its great black eyes shone with malice as its green lips peeled back to smile at her evilly. She twisted again, backing away and turning to the left, only to find the way blocked by the stone face of a Sycorax, hissing malevolently down at her.

She stepped away, turning the only way yet to be tried, only to find herself staring down the eyestalk of a Dalek.

'Exterminate!' it cried.

'This is impossible!' she screamed, ducking under the weapon attachments to see more creatures of her past appearing everywhere. Half a dozen Autons pushing through the gate; the emaciated bodies of the Flesh from New Earth; three huge Reapers circling above her head, their hawk-like screeches joining the cacophony of shouts from her once defeated enemies. A soft tug on her sleeve brought her attention to a small boy wearing a gas mask, the cut on his hand dripping down his arm.

'Are you my Mummy?' he asked innocently, keeping hold even as she tried weakly to pull away. She could feel the pull of unnatural sleep sweeping over her like the gaseous forms of the Gelth above her, all anxious to take her soon to be vacated flesh.

'Offer yourself to the Gelth…'

The voices of her foes were overwhelming, but each had their say.

'Are you my Mummy?'

'We defeated you… the Doctor… I… we…' her knees were weakening, her head spinning, 'Doctor!'

'Mummy?'

'Exterminate!'

'Let me kiss it better… kiss you with my big, green lips…'

'Did you think you were clever?'

'Doctor!'

She slumped to the floor, she and with that the creatures of her nightmares disappeared, leaving only her whispered cry for help on the wind.


	5. Foresights and Darkness

'Thanks for the addresses,' said the Doctor, standing to leave, 'you've been very helpful

**WARNING! SPOILERS: Parting of the ways and, because Rose is amazing and had the Bad Wolf in her head, Doomsday (It'll make sense, promise, but you have to read to find out.**

**Foresights and Darkness-Chapter 5**

'Thanks for the addresses,' said the Doctor, standing to leave, 'you've been very helpful.'

He turned to leave, only to turn back to look at her.

'Oh, and, by the way, I thought I should say, Rose wanted to say hi. Rose Tyler.'

'You know Rose?' Shareen asked, brightening suddenly, 'How is she? I haven't seen her in ages. Not since we thought her loser of a boyfriend bumped her off.'

'Ah, yeah. That was sorta my fault. We went travelling together.'

Shareen looked him over, making him feel slightly uncomfortable.

'Glad to see her taste has improved, but why's she gone off wiv a copper?'

'No, no we're not… Me and Rose, we're not like that,' the Doctor stuttered to correct her.

'Sure you ain't,' Shareen said, sounding thoroughly unconvinced, 'So, where is she then?'

'We, erm, we sort of… had a bit of a falling out…'

Shareen crossed her arms, giving him a look that reminded him scarily of Jackie, 'She had a go at'cha, didn't she?'

'What? How the hell did you know?'

'You forget, mate, I've known Rose since we were playing wiv Barbies. Let me guess: she shouted at you about somefin' and you did a runner? Am I right?'

The Doctor was silent.

''Fout as much. Look, not that I blame you- she can scare anyone in one of her moods- but I've learned, if Rose gets upset enough to star shouting, it calls for some TLC to calm the Dragon, not to be left on her own.'

The Doctor nodded dumbly, silenced as Shareen watched him expectantly for a moment.

'Meaning, get out there and find her before it's too late.'

'Oh,' he jumped up as if shot through with electricity, 'Right, thanks for everything! I'm gone!'

He ran to the door, dashing through, only to reappear again as a seemingly floating head.

'Can I have my coat back?'

His handsome face broke into a winning grin, which was soon covered by the coat that was flung at it at great speed.

Rose opened her eyes to find herself cold and alone. She was standing on a beach, wet and sandy and dull. Everything was a dull, monotonous grey. The sand, the cliffs, the rocks, the sky and the fierce sea, way out across the beach, all a dark, drab grey. Even the grass and the odd tree that clung to the side to the cliff seemed to have had any vibrancy sucked from them, making them just as dull as the rocks they so precariously held to.

The beach was cold, distant sun hidden behind rolls of thick, ominous clouds that covered the entire sky. The wind had a sharp, bitter edge to it, knocking her blonde hair into her eyes and face, whipping it into a wild frenzy. She looked around, trying to work out where she was and, more importantly, how she had got there.

She wasn't on the estate anymore.

She turned, around and around, scanning her surroundings for something, anything that might tell her where she was. There was a gentle tingling in her head, or a sort of pounding, making her feel light headed that she couldn't shake, making her dizzy as she spun around, looking for answers. Some sort of landmark, or maybe someone to ask, anything to tell her something of where she was.

But there was no-one.

There was only the TARDIS.

It stood alone in the distance, its vivid colours contrasting boldly with the monotone that surrounded it, sparking hope into Rose's heart. As Rose watched, the doors opened slightly, revealing the Doctor standing just inside the doors, looking at her, his dark eyes fixed on her and her alone.

She started running towards him, a smile cracking her face. The sand pulled hungrily at her shoes, slowing her, but she didn't care. She had thought that she might not see him again, and right now, all she cared about was being safe with him.

But there was something in his expression that made her slow for a second. A look in his dark eyes that did not suite his boyish features, marring the youth of his face.

He looked to be on the verge of tears.

She regained her pace, shouting out to him, 'Doctor?'

She was close now, close enough for her to feel the warmth of the TARDIS pulling her closer. It was beckoning her, tendrils of affection and heat pulling her closer.

The Doctor still watched her.

Why did he look so sad?

She was still coming, but his face didn't break into the cheeky smile she expected it to, nor did he step aside to let her in or pull her into an embrace.

He just shook his head.

'Rose Tyler…'

And with that, it seemed as if the wind had somehow blown away the very atoms of both he and his wonderful ship.

Like they were never there.

Leaving Rose alone.

She reached the spot where they had stood, completely stunned. Her legs couldn't hold her any longer, forcing her to her knees in the cold sand.

'Doctor?' she said weakly, ignoring the feeling of the cold water that was slowly seeping into her jeans, chilling the flesh of her legs.

It didn't matter.

Rose's mind was spinning. Why had he left her? yes, she had been mad with him, but surely he wouldn't leave over such a petty thing… would he?

Tears made their silent trail over her cheeks, making her sight cloudy, but she didn't move to remove them. She hadn't wanted this.

She closed her eyes, sending tears cascading down to her chin. Why would he do this?

The tingling pounding in her head came harder than before, and the sand beneath her seemed to change, solidifying and becoming dry, and the wind too… that changed. No longer was the air vicious and cold, but now dry, still and warm.

She opened her eyes, only to find herself half blind in the half-gloom. She was in a wide, dimly lit room, with computer banks on either side of her in two long rows, with thick cables snaked across the floor. She stood up quickly, loosing her balance slightly as the movement made the light-headedness pulse hard, reminding her of its presence.

Her eyes acclimatised to the darkness quickly, allowing her to look around the room. There were more computers on the far wall, with a stage that was surrounded by television screens, multicoloured cables hanging down as if they were meant to connect to something that no longer existed. On the walls on either side of her, Rose saw bronze doors, each with touch sensitive panels beside each.

This place was horribly familiar. She turned around, looking at the only wall yet to be looked at. The wall behind her.

High above, bathed in a dim spotlight, were the words she thought she would never have to face again.

Words that confirmed her worse fears.

"BAD WOLF CORPORATION"

'No, no, no, no' Rose whispered, stepping away, turning her back on the words that had sealed the fate of her first Doctor, determined that they would not seal that of her own. but even as the words escaped her lips, all eight doors opened in unison, revealing the creatures that she had feared to see. Thirty, forty, fifty Daleks entered the room, turning to face her at either ends of the computer banks.

In the empty stage in front of her, a holographic cinema-like screen flickered into life, displaying the repulsive, squid-like face of the God of all Daleks, staring down at the human before it.

'You're meant to be dead!' Rose yelled, her voice hoarse and shaking, 'All of you! I say you die!'

'I am immortal! I cannot die!' said the grating voice of the one-eyed creature, 'You are the Heathen! The Abomination! You shall be exterminated!'

Rose backed away, tripping on the wires that covered the floor. The Dalek in front of her trained its gun on her heart, its eyestalk coming to look down on her like vermin.

'Exterminate!'

She closed her eyes, thinking only of the Doctor. Would he ever know how she died? Would he know that her dying thought was of him?

Would he ever know how she felt about him?

She waited for the deadly ray to hit her, not knowing what to expect, except for death.

She waited…

But it never came.

She opened her eyes, feeling the familiar thrum in her head, but nothing else. There was nothing around her. nothing at all.

Only the darkness.

She stood uncertainly, unsure of what exactly it was that she was standing on, for there was no ground that she could see. Just darkness spanning as far as she could see in everyway. Including down.

She looked down, gad to see that she would see herself- though that confused her even more. It was as if someone had shone a light on her, but it did not have any effect on her surroundings.

'Doctor?' she shouted into the darkness, surprised to find no returning echo. There was no reply. But it was the only thing she could do. She was alone, and lost, and scared, and without the Doctor, she couldn't do anything.

'Doctor?'


	6. Mickey and LINDA

Chapter 6- Mickey and LINDA

**Argh!! I'm so sorry for the late update, I'm not usually this terrible, but I'm blaming it completely on a combination of illness and exams. So, MAJOR Spoiler alert: Love and Monsters, (though sort of minimal for that) and references to the Christmas Invasion; Boom Town; the novel, the Stone Rose and, thanks to the magic of wibbly wobbly, timey whimey, references to Fires of Pompeii, a little reference to Silence in the Library which I will reward with a cookie if you see it, and rest of the current series. It'll all make sense. Promise. Oh and, if this chapter is a bit naff, blame it on the ninja cold that attacked during it's being written, and tell me how I can improve it. I won't kill you. Promise.**

**Chapter 6- Mickey and LINDA**

The Doctor walked slowly back to Mickey's flat, having already checked at Jackie's to find it empty, with a note saying about going to the shops in Jackie's handwriting. He had expected, upon knocking on Mickey's door, to find himself subject to one of two things; a hug that would wind him and a few harsh, but more worried words said at a very high pitch for leaving her behind, or a Daughter-of-Jackie-Tyler slap and several even harsher words, mixed in with a few profanities learned from said mother.

What he was greeted by, however, was a rather disappointed looking Mickey.

'Oh, it's you,' he said dully, 'I thought it would be Rose.'

'I was about to say the same to you.'

Mickey left the door open and wandered back inside. 'You not seen 'er then?'

'No, why? Where did she go?' the Doctor asked, closing the door gently behind him and walking through into Mickey's room with him.

'She went off investigatin' for ya, di'n't she?! Wanted to give you some "alone time,"' He mimed the speech marks, 'after you ran off on 'er. She was in a right state after you left, I think you should know. She didn't mean it, what she said. You should've stuck wiv her.'

The Doctor stayed silent, resisting the urge to defend himself. He deserved to be told he was an idiot for abandoning Rose. He sat down on the bed heavily, hanging his head.

'I know.'

'You should have- what?' Mickey caught himself mid rant.

'I know. I shouldn't have left her, but I didn't know what to say to her, so I did what I do best, didn't I?' he laughed bitterly, 'I ran away.'

'Look…' Mickey didn't know what to say. He was so used to the Doctor acting like an arrogant prick whenever he was talking to Mickey, though a little less so in this form that the last. To see this confident man being so reclusive and down on himself was a shock, 'don't… don't worry 'bout her. She knows this side of London like the back of 'er hand, she can look after herself. And anyway, she's not really one to hold a grudge. And I bet my life that you, least of all, should have ta worry about her not talkin' ta ya.'

'What do you mean?'

Mickey stared at him for a moment, incredulity painted on his face, before he gave a small bark of laughter.

'Don't tell me you don't know?'

The Doctor's brow furrowed, surprised by the reaction. 'Know what?'

'Mate, do you not get girls at all?'

'"Get"? What do you mean?'

'She's smitten over you. Always have been, even when you were Mr Big Ears.'

The Doctor blushed, which only made Mickey laugh again, 'You really didn't know?'

The Doctor gaped, doing a surprisingly good impression of a goldfish as he searched for words as Mickey laughed even more.

'Look, I wanted to show you somefin' anyway. I found this website the other day. It must've set itself up after the Bad Wolf virus you gave me stopped working. I was gonna delete it, but there's some pretty interestin' stuff on there, if you wanna check it out.'

He typed a bit on a computer, finding the website and leaving the Doctor to have a look while he searched for his voice, while he went make a cup of tea.

The Doctor watched him go, finally closing his mouth. _He must be wrong, _the Doctor assured himself, _Rose doesn't think of me like that._

_Does she?_

He shook his head, turning his attention back to the computer, moving to sit in the wheelie chair to get a better look.

And he was faced with a picture of himself. The image was animated, with little white snowflakes fluttering down the screen in front of the image of himself. Guessing from the graphic, and the fact that it was an image of his current self instead of his pre-regenerative self, it was from the Christmas just past, just after the Sycorax ship had been blown up, as the real picture also had snow falling.

His curiosity well and truly piqued, he clicked a button captioned "Gallery", wondering what would come next. The first page was split in two, the image on the right that of a stone tablet, engraved with Egyptian hieroglyphics, with one in particular picked out with red marker pen circle. The image on the left was the zoomed in version, focussed on the marked symbol. There, crude but unmistakable, was a symbol of the TARDIS.

_Curiouser and curiouser, _the Doctor thought, bemused as he pressed the "Next" button.

This time it was an image he recognised from a previous site about him. It was him, but the previous him, his ninth self. He was standing in the crowd, almost lost in the bustle, as a car drove by.

The day President Kennedy died.

He shivered. He hated thinking about that day. It was something that he had forced himself to do, knowing how important it was to the planet that had become his second home following the Time War. But that didn't mean he enjoyed watching a man loved by so many being shot for doing the right thing.

The next was an image of his ninth self, Rose, Mickey and Jack walking through what looked like Wales, if the welsh signs were anything to go by. They were talking, laughing together as they walked past, sharing time travelling tales, Jack talking animatedly about some bizarre happening on some obscure little planet, Rose and Mickey watching him, laughing as Nine rolled his eyes.

The Doctor laughed quietly to himself, wondering who had been watching them; who had taken this intimate moment home with them. He wondered, as he often did since Satellite Five, what trouble the good Captain had found himself in since Rose made him…

Best not to think about that.

The next page had a little video box, showing his new new self and Rose walking into the TARDIS, at which point the picture cut out to leave only the sound of the ship taking off, the sound making the Doctor jump as it issued from speakers turned up way too loud.

As he clicked the "Next" button, Mickey walked in.

'Havin' fun admirin' yourself?' he asked, placing a cup of tea in front of the Doctor and taking a sip of his own.

'Well it's interesting, I'll give them that. And an… um… interesting decision of name.'

He tapped the top of the screen. There was a banner across the top, titling the group:

"**L.I.N.D.A**

**London Investigation 'N' Detective Agency"**

'Imaginative, if nothing else,' the Doctor said, 'though I'm not sure about the 'N'. Still, nice to know my fans are resilient.'

'Get over yourself mate!'

The Doctor grinned, turning his attention back to the screen. It was a marble slab, with the image of him and a woman dressed in a toga, presumably Rose, standing in front of the TARDIS, which was standing proud at the top of some steps. Rose's face was worn away by time, and one of her hands had chipped away, but it still seemed like it would be her.

'Rose never told me you two went to Rome,' Mickey said.

'We haven't. Not yet anyway.'

'What?'

'It's… hard to explain Mickey. Wibbly Wobbley, Timey Whimey stuff. This is from the past, but it's in our future…' Mickey nodded, but looked nonplussed, 'doesn't matter.'

'That reminds me, when you find Rose, I _have_ to show you something at the museum-'

'_Doctor?!'_

'You won't believe it.'

The Doctor swung around on the chair, standing up, searching for the origin of the mysterious voice.

'Hey, what's going on?' Mickey asked, staring at the Doctor.

'Doctor?!' the voice came again, tinny and weak.

'Can't you hear that?' the Doctor asked in hushed tones.

'Hear what?' Mickey looked around like the Doctor as the voice shouted again.

With a shock of cold dread the Doctor knew two things.

One; that the voice was inside his head, shouting out telepathically.

Two; that it was Rose's voice.

And she sounded terrified.

Mickey looked like he was about to say something, but the Doctor silenced him with a look and a finger to his own lips, before sitting down, closing his eyes and replying to Rose in his head.

_Rose? Is that you?_

'Doctor?!' Her voice grew stronger, filled with relief and excitement, 'Oh my God, it's you! I thought I'd never hear your voice again! It's me. Oh my god, it's me.'

_Where are you?_

There was a moment's pause, which seemed to the Doctor like an eternity.

'I don't know. It's just… dark. All I can see is dark and myself. That's it,' another long pause, 'what's happening? Where are you? I can't… why can't I see you. I can hear your voice, but I can't… why can't I…'

_I'm at Mickey's flat. Now listen, Rose I know it must be hard, but I want you to tell me what happened after I left the flat_.

Slowly, hesitantly, Rose told him how she had gone around all the families, and how she ended up at the park, surrounded by all those creatures.

'That's impossible, though isn't it?'

_It should be…_the Doctor agreed uncertainly, _but it happened. And then what? What happened next?_

A long silence.

_Rose? Keep talking to me, sweetheart_.

'I'm sorry… it's just… my head… it feels like… I dunno. It doesn't exactly hurt, but it's like a throbbing, but really distant. Like when you hear someone hammering metal in the distance and you can sorta feel it, you know?'

_I know, yeah. Just tell me what happened next. I need to know, please_.

'I… I was at... this beach. Everything was grey but… then you were there. You were there, you and the TARDIS. I ran to you… but you closed the door on me. You left me. You left me alone.'

_Rose, what ever this thing that's going on, it's not real. You have to know this. It's. Not. Real._

'But then… I was on Satellite Five. There were all these Daleks… but you weren't there to help me. The Dalek Emperor… he gave the order for me to die…' she was silent for a moment, 'I've never been this scared Doctor. I'm scared, and I don't even know why. It's like… something's making me feel scared, but not scaring me… Doctor… help…'

_Rose stay with me, I'm right here. C'mon, Rose, it's okay. You know I'll sort this out_.

"I know you will Doctor, but it's like… this place, it doesn't want me to know. It doesn't want me to hope, to know it'll all be alright. It wants me to stay here. It wants me to-"

Silence, and the feeling of a great weight being lifted from his head.

Rose was gone.

He opened his eyes, finding the worried, pale looking face of Mickey watching him.

'What just happened?' the boy asked nervously, trying and failing to keep the panic and worry from his voice, 'What was that?'

The Doctor took a deep breath.

'That was Rose.'

'What do you mean that was Rose? What are you talking about!?'

'Rose… something's happened to her. She was kidnapped by the… by something and she was calling out to me with her mind. She's terrified and in danger. I need to get to her before something happens to her. She was cut off before she meant to and I need to find out if she's okay or if she's-' he couldn't let himself even think that, 'I need to find her. Does that cover any and all questions in that little human head of your's or am I gonna have to waste more time explaining for you when Rose needs my help?'

Mickey went silent, looking guilty and shook hid head mutely.

The Doctor softened, angry with himself. Mickey was as worried about Rose as he was.

'Look, Mickey…' he didn't know what to say. The Oncoming Babble unsure what to say. That was a first.

'Can I help?'

The Doctor blinked. 'What?'

'I wanna come help you find Rose.'

'It's better if I'm alone.'

The Doctor stood suddenly, cutting the conversation dead and heading for the door. He paused in the hall, battling with himself. A himself with a very sharp Northern tongue which was determined to stop him from going back and saying what he wanted to.

And for once, the pretty boy in pinstripes won over the man in leather.

'Look, Mickey… you're not an idiot. And if I ever tell you that again, you have every right to knock me for a loop. Agreed?'

Mickey stared at him for a long moment, confusion and disbelief on his face.

'Are you drunk?'

'No, but a very loud and currently brooding part of me certainly wishes that I could use that as an excuse to call you stupid.'

Mickey blinked, hearing the door close in the hall.

_I don't like it when he's nice._ Mickey thought to himself, shaking his head.

After a long time of staring at the empty doorway now vacated by the Doctor, he came to his senses, clicked the cross in the corner of the screen, closing the web browser and turning off the computer, wondering if this Doctor had lost his mind during the regenerative coma he'd been in for Christmas. As he did so, he had no reason to look closely in the corner of the screen. Even if he had, he most likely wouldn't have noticed the Latin writing in the bottom corner of the marble carving. The words were somehow, impossibly intact, even though most of the main carving had been worn away by time. But, translated, these impossible words held power.

Three little words.

_Is est recidivus_

She is returning.


	7. The Forest and the Wolf

The Forest and the Wolf- Chapter 6

The Forest and the Wolf- Chapter 6

Rose was alone again.

But then, the more and more she thought about it, the more impossible she realised her memories to be. A man talking to her in her head, while she stood in darkness, life lived from a blue box that was bigger on the inside?

A man who could change his face?

How could that be real?

She was walking along a winding path, enclosed by tall, imposing trees, bear of leaves and their bark gnarled and black. A never ending forest, like none that she could ever remember seeing, except from through the crack in the door as her mother watched late night horror movies. A world that only lived in those movies, too creepy to exist in real life.

But this was real life, wasn't it?

There was an eerie silence, broken only by her seemingly impossibly loud footsteps, rustling and cracking as she stood on fallen leaves and twigs; the howling of the wind that sounded like and animal being dragged bodily through the sharp fingers of the trees and the creak of the ancient wood.

It felt like forever that she'd been walking, and it was as if a cold fog had swept into her mind, slowly engulfing her memories.

She was forgetting.

The image of that strange man suddenly appeared in her mind as she walked. His face seemed to push back the cold tendrils of mist that was drawing ever tighter in on her mind.

A face that would not leave her.

He was young and handsome, tall, thin –_with really great hair _a little part of her whispered- but his eyes… those beautiful brown eyes seemed to show pain and age beyond the years of his face.

As she walked further and further, on and on, she could feel the mist drawing in, she was losing memories.

_What had her father's name been?_

The man's face was fading slightly, losing focus…

_What was her mother's name?_

…but his eyes remained the same, clearly defined in the growing white in her mind

_What was her name?_

His name… it seemed to be eternally just out of her reach, always there but out of her mind's grasp.

Like trying to catch smoke.

She kept trying to remember as much as she could about her past. About this man. The only memory that refused to leave her.

The man who would never leave her.

Again and again she tried to remember what she had been doing before she came here.

Travelling. That was it. She had been travelling. With that man, yes!

The man without a name.

The man without a home. Only that strange blue box, with so much inside, knowledge beyond anything in her world or any other.

The lonely angel who had lost his wings in the flames of his dying planet, and had fallen to her.

Who had only her.

But then, who was she?

Was she like him? Did she walk the stars, searching for her name?

Did she have a name?

Did she have a home?

Was she all alone?

She concentrated, holding back the fear that the last thought stabbed into her soul. She had been travelling. Travelling with the lonely angel who was never lonely with her at his side. And oh, how very far they had gone. To the end of the Earth, to the world that preceded it, to the furthest reaches of the universe and as far forward or backward in time as you could wish to go. To a world that stunk of bad breath and was walked by tall, baby faced creatures with claws that threatened to lunge for her at any second if see wasn't with that man.

A man who could change his face.

But that was impossible.

Wasn't it?

To travel in time and space in a blue box… surely, that must be the dream.

But then… what did that make this… place?

That man. Everything else was starting to fade now, even the memories of him, except his face. All she knew now was that without him, she was nothing.

_What was __**her**__ name?_

Thick, snaking roots caught her feet as she walked, low lying branches snagged at her hair and clothes, brown leaves swirled around her ankles and grit blew into her eyes, kicked up by an unforgiving wind. Somewhere above her an owl screeched. It was as if everything was telling her to turn back. To leave. But she had nowhere else to go.

If only she could remember this man's name, maybe she could then remember her own. But what name did you give to a man who defies description.

She sat down amongst the dead leaves and the broken twigs, weary from walking for so long. How long had it been now? Time seemed as warped as the branches of the trees in this place, making it impossible to tell the pass of time. She thought about that mysterious man, trying desperately to remember his name.

She pulled her parka tighter around her, shutting out the bitter edge of the howling wind that clawed at her.

Hang on…

Didn't it seem that the howling was becoming more of a whine?

And wasn't it nearer than it had seemed before?

And wasn't it strange that the wind whipping her face was cold and relentless, while the breeze on her neck was warm and gentle?

Rose turned her head, feeling like she was moving in slow motion.

There, breathing its warm, wretched breath into her face… was a werewolf.

She leapt up with a gasp, moving faster than she thought possible. She backed away quickly, her eyes not leaving the blood thirsty and salivating face of the creature as fear raced through her veins. She stumbled over the roots of the trees, trying desperately to get away without having to turn her back on the thing before her.

The wolf walked slowly towards her, weighing her up and working out the best way to attack her. Intelligence lay in those moon-like eyes, calculating.

Fear overpowering her, Rose turned and ran, but before she'd even turned fully, she was on the ground, the winding roots finally having succeeded in their attempts, bringing her crashing down. The wolf snarled triumphantly, launching itself at its incapacitated prey as if shot from a gun.

Rose took what she knew must surely be her last breath as she clamped her eyes shut, throwing her arm over her eyes as she braced herself to feel those dreaded fangs to rip through the soft flesh of her throat.

Only they never did.

The sound of the deadly forest faded away, the now familiar throb of light-headedness appearing as she blinked open her eyes, pulled her arm away from her face. Above her storm clouds were gathering, and she was somewhere she didn't recognise.

She felt empty inside. No emotion was left, and she felt drained.

Well, perhaps a tiny little spark, buried away in the very fibre of her being.

Hope.

Hope because if she knew one thing…

Just one thing…

The Doctor.

The Doctor was coming to save her.

And didn't that spark just burn at that thought?


	8. The Girl and the Time Lords

The Girl and the Time Lords- Chapter 8

**Yes, I know! I'm a useless excuse for a writer. I can only apologise so much for my lack of updates, and make up for it with a rather long and (I think at least) exciting and, might I mention, my own personal favourite chapter. It made one of my friends who read it cry.**

**Unbeta'd I'm afraid, so all mistakes my own. If anyone reads the end of this chapter and thinks I've missed someone out that you think I should have in, bear in mind that I haven't seen the old series and I'm working only with what I know, and make a suggestion in a review. **

**Reviews are love, people!**

The Girl and the Time Lords- Chapter 8

After leaving Mickey's flat, the Doctor headed straight to the TARDIS. Right now, he had no idea how to find Rose. He had no leads, no-one knew anything about these disappearing children, and he…

…he didn't know what to do.

Every time he thought of her, the terror in her voice when she cried out to him in his head, the image that his mind had so helpfully painted of her standing in darkness, it felt as if tiny shards of ice were burrowing themselves deeper and deeper into his hearts. He had promised Jackie that he would keep her safe, but it was his fault she was missing. If he hadn't left her… if he hadn't run from her… she wouldn't have taken it upon herself to search for answers for him; wouldn't have gone to that park.

She wouldn't have been taken.

And the worst thing was that it wasn't even on some far flung planet, or a million years in the future. It was her home; her time. Her city. She had just come home to get a shower. And that thought made it all even worse. If he had only fixed the heater, she wouldn't be…

What? What was it she was going through?

Was she even still alive?

He didn't know what had stopped her from talking. She might be…

He came to an abrupt stop. With his mind tying itself in guilt-knots, his feet seemed to have taken over, leading him straight back to the TARDIS, only to find it blocked off by a gaggle of people.

'What the hell is going on here?!' the Doctor said over the hubbub. Every face turned to look at him, but he did not falter. "The world stands aside to let anyone pass who knows where he is going," a wise man once said, and it was so true.

A rough looking boy, about thirteen maybe, stepped forwards, 'Wha's it to you?'

An elderly lady pushed forwards through the crowd, standing behind the boy, clipping him around the ear and pushing him aside.

'Excuse my grandson, he has no manners,' she gave the sulking boy a pointed look, 'does this box belong to you, sir?'

The Doctor nodded politely to the woman, admiring her spark.

'It lit up,' the boy put in, ignoring his grandmother, 'it was, like, making all these weird noises, the light on top was flashing.'

The Doctor's eyes went to the ship, his lighting up as realised what the boys words must mean and pushing through the crowd as politely and quickly as possible, claiming that the lights and sounds were a sort of burglar alarm and that he had to make sure that nothing was damaged or had been taken. Slowly but surely they left, though seemingly convinced that he was off his rocker, by the overexcited way he was bouncing around.

As soon as they were gone, the Doctor had his key in the lock, pushing open the door to the cavernous insides of his marvellous ship, flinging his coat over one of the coral like struts and running towards the console.

Then he stopped. There, hanging alone, was a denim jacket.

Rose's jacket.

His hearts clenched momentarily, before releasing, the jacket giving him hope and strength instead of weakening him.

He _was_ going to get her back.

He went to the control panel, typing quickly into the little screen on the console, talking soothingly to the ship.

'You helped her call to me, didn't you ol' girl? You want her back safe, just as much as I do, don't you? Help me find her, my beautiful, fantastic ship.'

He followed the instructions she gave him, allowing her to nudge him into action; flipping levers, pushing buttons, working with his oldest and most faithful companion. The central column glowed a vibrant turquoise, throwing strange shadows over the Doctor's face and the entire room. But something was wrong. The rise and fall of the column was laboured, and beneath the usual rasping melody of the ship's departure, there was another, discordant sound, strained and sharp.

'Come on, my brilliant ship,' the Doctor murmured, stroking the console lovingly, 'follow the signal, just a little further. Come on, almost there.'

Sparks flew and steam curled from the console as the strain grew. Suddenly he was on the floor as the ship tossed and turned, before crashing down to a stop.

He bounced to his feet, reaching out with his mind to check she was okay, and upon confirmation, he was at the door, leaving his coat behind in the rush to find out where they were.

Where Rose was.

They had landed in the corner of a vast, oval-shaped room. It was huge, seeming to stretch out before him forever. The ceiling rose high above him in a shallow curve with bright bare strip lights handing from it, lighting the room and making it look like a warehouse of some sort.

The room was filled with a seemingly never-ending maze of low corridors, covering every inch of the room. He chose the nearest opening, following the twists and turns, keeping track in his mind the exact route that he had taken. All along the walls there were strange hollows, reminding him horridly of pods that he had seen in the Hospital on New Earth. Each was open-fronted, and long, multicoloured wires hung down inside the man-sized space, as if something was missing.

And he had a sneaking suspicion that he knew what it that missing component was.

He walked on and on, passing empty pod after pod, his Converse barely making a sound on the bare metal from which the room was made. He could hear the almost silent engines beneath him, and he infered that he was on some sort of ship. But there were other noises too. Little living sounds from the other side of the walls around him.

And there was something else that was tugging at his senses. A scent on the air in this place. A sharp metallic tang that seemed familiar, but he couldn't think where he had discovered it before. Right on the edge of his mind, just out of grasp.

He turned a corner…

And suddenly he was faced with what was missing from the other pods.

Oh how he hated having to be right.

There, standing in the centre of the pod, was one of the missing children.

It was a young girl, no older than thirteen, dwarfed in such a large space compared to her tiny features. The wires that hung limply in the other pods had found their uses here. All over her body, multi-coloured cords were attached to her skin, with half a dozen stuck to her forehead alone. Her dark blonde hair hung limp around her shoulders, damp from the sweat that formed on her face.

The Doctor reached out for her, anger coursing through him at the way in which the child appeared to be nothing more than a science experiment, but he pulled his hand back with a yelp of pain as he was zapped by an invisible electric field in place around the girl.

As he watched, flexing his hand as he tried to get feeling back, the girl began to whisper pleading words, moaning as she threw her head this way and that. For the first time he noticed a small screen beside the pod, monitoring the heart and breathing rate.

They were both rising.

The girls cries were getting louder now, and the Doctor had to bite back a growl as he fought the urge to put his hand through the field again, desperate to do something; anything to help.

But just then, her tormented face became calm and she sighed, the monitor showing that her heart rate was falling to normal again.

It was over.

Whatever it was.

'I'm sorry,' the Doctor said sincerely, 'I'm going to help you. I promise.'

He turned slowly, his eyes still on the now calm girl, wanting to continue his search of the ship. But when he looked away, he jumped back a step when he saw that his way was blocked.

A little girl stood before him, much younger than the one in the pod, about six or seven years old. She stood before him, watching him with innocent curiosity, her bright blue eyes seeing to see right through him. She seemed unaware of the slight chill in the air, dressed only in a short-sleeved white nightie cut around her knees. Her long, wavy brown hair hung half-way down her back, the fringe held back from her face by a delicate little clip.

"Oh! Hello!' the Doctor said brightly, dropping to his haunches in front of the child to look her in those unnerving blue eyes. _Something is wrong _a voice in his head screamed. He ignored it. 'What's your name, sweetheart? I'm the Doctor.'

The girl didn't answer him immediately, but instead looked him up and down with unblinking eyes, her head tilted to one side, those seeming to look right into his soul.

_This is bad!_

'You're not like the Humans,' she commented. Her voice was not as he expected. It was more mature that she looked, and it cracked and croaked as if she had been parched of water.

The Doctor jumped away, standing up in shock. _I told you so, _the voice in his head sneered. The little girl laughed. It sounded like metal being rasped against a cheese grater. 'What is it, Doctor? You're not afraid of a _child,_ now are you?' she stared into his eyes for a second, a vile grin twisting her face, 'not after all the horrors _you've_ seen. You've faced down Daleks and Sea Devils, Axons and Zygons. Flying through space, seeing all the nightmares that there are to see, and yet here you stand, terrified to face a pretty little girl?'

'What are you?'

She didn't answer him, instead tipping her head to the side, 'Your body… your mind is so much… better designed than all the frail little humans that I've found on this backwater planet. So many faces for just one man to wear. A lonely life, is it not, Doctor, living for such a long time has its flaws, am I right? Ohh… but look!' her delicate eyebrows rose, 'that's just what I've been looking for. Oh what a brilliant mind you have, dear Doctor. So many thoughts rushing through your head, even this very second,' she gasped, then laughed her nasty laugh, 'walls don't keep _me_ out, sir. But hidden the very deepest, oh I can see everything,' her face flickered into a hungry grin. It actually flickered, disappearing and reappearing so fast, it would have been invisible to anyone but him, 'Your memory! Oh, such fear… such pain… Just what I need.'

'Name yourself!' the Doctor demanded.

'Oh, I don't have a name. Just like you,' she said casually, an odd smile playing across her face.

The Doctor took the Sonic Screwdriver out of his pocket, pointing it at the girl like a weapon, 'Where is Rose?' he said firmly, threatening, 'Give her back to me.'

The girl tilted her head back straight, her grin frozen in place. Then it grew into a demonic sneer, her pale lips pulling back over her white teeth.

Her body was changing, stretching, becoming taller, her hair receding into her head and turning blonde. Her eyes became brown, softening the edge that resided in the icy blue stare of the child as her nightie became a powder blue top, a pale green parka and tight-fitting blue jeans.

Rose Tyler stood before him, taking the place of the odious child.

The Doctor was numbly aware that his arm had fallen, hypnotised by the eyes that he had thought he'd never see again.

It wasn't the real Rose. He knew that. It was a hologram. He knew that he knew that. But still his arm fell.

'Ahh… there it is,' the Rose before him whispered victoriously, 'the killer blow. The girl you love, in danger. Hard, isn't it? Keeping her with you when she exhibits such a craving for the disasters you so desperately try to keep her away from.

'That's just what I can use. And… oh! Even deeper still, buried so very deep, but I can see! Oh how very delicious!' she licked her lips, biting her lip in apparent ecstasy, 'The death of your planet! Your family. Your _species_. Oh, I can taste it already!'

The Doctor snapped from the trance, his arm pointing out in front of him, 'Where is Rose! Take me to the real Rose, right _now!_' he yelled at the holo-Rose.

'Why would I do that? After all her travels, she's a tasty little morsel all by herself. Nothing compared to the feast I shall with you, but sweet enough to keep for a little longer, I assure you. Ohh now, but look…' the hologram giggled, this time imitating Rose's sweet laugh, making the Doctor's hearts clench painfully, 'it's a family reunion!'

The Doctor turned, keeping the Sonic Screwdriver pointed at the woman who was not Rose.

It felt like the world had slowed down.

There, in front of him, walking calmly around the corner, were hundreds of faces, all piling in. All of them he recognised.

His hearts were beating painfully against his chest, blood banging in his ears. Tears built in his eyes, and he blinked them away, unable to move to brush them with his hands.

The faces of his people stared at him. At the front, Susan, Romana, his parents, Azmeal. So many faces, friends and allies, people he had passed when he visited.

Shock had numbed his mind, stuck his feet.

The Time Lords stopped before him. His arm dropped to his side, unable to keep it up as the strength to do anything but stare abandoned him.

_This is wrong._

Romana stepped forward, dressed in her Presidential robes and her young face was creased by sadness and reproach.

"You left us, Doctor,' she said. Her voice was sharp and strong, each word cutting deep into his hearts like shards of ice. 'You ran away.'

'Why did you leave us, Grandfather?' Susan asked, her voice quiet but still strong, still painful, 'Why didn't you help us?'

Others gathered around him, circling him, blocking off escape routes.

"Why did you run?' they asked, again and again.

'I had to…' the Doctor said weakly, 'I tried to… but I… it wasn't my fault!'

Two men from the council, henchmen, grabbed him around the arms. He didn't even struggle. He didn't fight the encroaching darkness at the corners of his mind as his consciousness began to fade.

'You had a choice, my friend,' Romana said, shaking her head.

'And you made the wrong one.'

Quote by David Staff Jordan.


	9. Gallifrey is Dead

I know

**I know. I really, truly do know how awful I am at updating. And I am honestly sorry to anyone who is still reading this story. I want you to know that all of you out there who still review this odd little story are thanked most deeply, and I apologise to you all. I want to promise for quicker updates, but then I know that I am going to end up breaking that. But at least I'm honest, yeah?**

**Anyway, just a little chapter, but I'm hoping if I do little chapters at a time, I may be a little faster.**

**Hopefully…**

Gallifrey Dead- Chapter 9

It was difficult to open his eyes. He could see light through his closed lids, but he was so comfortable he didn't want to return to consciousness just yet. Instead he lay in a blissful state of complete blankness, his mind silent as he drifted gently through the layers of sleep.

The first thing the Doctor was aware of was an overpowering sense of light-headedness, even though he hadn't moved. His brow furrowed as he tried to rid himself of the thudding feeling in his head. Something tugged on the edges of his mind.

It was familiar, not from his own experience, but through the description of another's.

Rose's description.

With a gasp, the Doctor was awake, his eyes snapping open as her name brought forth images, fears and worries.

Then shock made him forget his newly discovered troubles.

High above him was a familiar scorched red sky. Twin suns hung high in the brilliantly coloured heavens, warming his face. It took barely a second for his sharpening mind to know where he was, with the well known sight of the mountains of Solace and Solitude reaching high above him, but it took him much longer to clear his mind of shock before he could think to concentrate on how it could be possible.

He lay on soft, crimson grass, inhaling the scent of the warm earth beneath him, and the sweet wind that tousled his hair.

The scent of home.

The scent he had longed to return to for so very long.

A lone tear trickled slowly down the side of his face.

He lay, silent with awe, on the planet of his creation. The wanderer's home.

The gentle backdrop of humming life sounded all around him. It was exact in every detail, this personal hell. This hologram.

There he was, lying in the spot to which he had escaped so many times in his childhood, under the dazzling shade of the nearby silver tree; tall and magnificent. If he were to sit up, he would see before him, down the hill and a few miles away, the great city of his people, hidden away in the mighty glass dome.

If he could allow himself, he would stay there forever. Remain in the blissful hell that he found himself in.

But he couldn't.

Rose was still out there, so close he could almost feel her, but still lost.

Still in danger.

Her and all those children.

He couldn't let himself be lost too.

He pushed himself up, whipping away the tears before they were shed. The giddy feeling of light-headedness returned at the sudden change as he stood, but he kept his balance and looked below at the city. It was then that he realised that, while this world was perfect in its appearance, and filled with the sounds of life in the undergrowth, there was something missing.

The city was empty.

Gallifrey was empty.

There was only Rose.

She stood a little down the hill, her back to him, facing the deserted city. Her blonde hair shimmered in the light of the twin suns, her pose so familiar to him he didn't even need to see her face to know it was her. He forgot for a moment that it wasn't real, something playing with his head, and his hearts leapt. She was so close.

He ran towards her, his face breaking into a smile.

She must have heard him coming, for she turned to look at him.

The look on her face stopped him in his tracks.

Confusion and hurt were as clear on her face as her features, her eyes begging for understanding.

"You… did this," she said, "Not the Daleks. You… you could have stopped this."

Suddenly the world changed, shimmering in a heat haze. Fire surrounded him, tearing through the trees around him. The citadel was burning, the glass dome shattered. The Doctor's world was filled with the screams of his people, men women and children, all screaming in his mind as the died. He could feel the heat from the flames.

Rose stood there, so calm and so quiet at the gates of hell, the flickering flames dancing in her eyes.

"Rose…" the Doctor gasped, reaching out for her.

The flames engulfed her, and he couldn't reach her, he tried to get to her, but he couldn't escape the flames. Then she was gone, vanished.

And with her went the control this world had over him.

Without her there, his mind cleared, and he remembered again where it was he stood. This world was not real. His home had burned like this, but that was a long time in his past. It was gone.

This was not real.

He reached into his inside pocket, fished out the reassuring shape of the Sonic Screwdriver. He looked down, turning the top and setting the device to setting B13 and pointing it up at where the suns burned though the smoke.

He pressed the button.

The effect was instant. The screams died, as did the crackling of burning wood. The flames were stopped like a film put on pause, or as if caught in a photograph.

He pressed the button again.

And the world began to run. The vibrant reds of the sky drained away, followed by the flames, as if the world had been nothing more than painting, left out in the rain. Then the image lost focus, the details lost in the grey. Finally, the sky started to recede, folding in on itself, a curtain falling to the floor, then pulling everything in until the Doctor stood, alone, in complete blackness.

His arm fell to his side.

A tear graced his cheek.

He had to find Rose


	10. Everything is Explained

**Chapter 10-Everything is Explained**

**I haven't really got much of an excuse. Only that It's my GCSE year. I can only apologise with an update of 7 pages which has taken me at least 5 hours to type up. I'm not as quick at writing as I usually am. 3,852 words. And my most sincere apologies. *bows repeatedly* I'm sorry!**

I'm not sure about how good this is, and I would appreciate it if you could tell me if it's ok or not. Tell me what's bad with it, or if there's anything in particular that's good. Thank you, and please enjoy.

Rose was sitting up in her bed, legs drawn up to her chest and her duvet covering her completely except for her eyes and the top of her head. It had been so long since she gave up on trying to remember who she was, or the memories of her past, or even the places she was or had been. She saw no point in remembering anything like that when her mind rebelled so adamantly against the notion.

There was only one thing that she still clung to. One memory; and the thought that was attached to it that she kept sheltered from the all consuming fog in her mind.

The memory of the man. The Doctor.

And the thought that _he was coming for her._

She kept his image clear in her head, now more familiar to her than herself.

She _had_ to remember him.

It gave her hope. And she feared what would come if she lost hope. Without it, she stood no hope of getting out of this. Whatever this was.

But it was getting harder and harder for her to remember the meaning of the word hope, hard to cling to that rock when the sea of fear and helplessness was so brutally trying to pry her away.

It was so hard to keep anything in her mind other than the knowledge that she _must not move_.

It had been her fear at childhood of something, some horrible creature lurking in her wardrobe. And now, like so many nights when she was a child, she sat, shaking and staring at the doors of her wardrobe, waiting for it to come for her.

Something was banging on the doors.

From the inside.

It had started as a gentle tapping, but now it had grown into a banging, and she could hear the click of long, pointed nails tapping in time with the bangs. With every impact the doors shuddered now, the posters of boy bands fluttering from the force. With every passing moment the thuds got louder and louder. Something was forcing its way in to her room. Coming to get her.

Tears had started trickling down Rose's face now. She wanted to call for the mother that she couldn't remember, call for her Doctor, but her voice had long since abandoned her, leaving her only with a quiet, croaking whisper, which she used to make herself remember.

'The Doctor is coming,' she sobbed, over and over again, willing herself not to lose the only thing she had left, 'The Doctor is coming.'

She slid lower in bed, her eyes still fixed on the wardrobe doors. She could tell that they wouldn't last much longer. It was as if the thing hiding inside also knew, as it suddenly became more vicious in its attacks.

She heard it give a high pitched cry of triumph, the sound tugging at her memory, something familiar to her. But then the doors crashed open, falling off their hinges and all she could do was throw her duvet over her head and curl into a tight protective ball.

Rose clamped her eyes tight shut, as if it would give some protection from the creature that had intruded into her room. Over and over again, she sobbed her mantra, waiting for the death she had imagined in so many nightmares years ago. She heard the footsteps approaching her, but they were not what she had expected. The tread of the nightmare creature was supposed to be heavy and lolloping, but these were gentle, slow and steady, almost lost in the sound of her frantic heart beating. She shook violently as she heard the steps come to a stop in front of her.

'Oh Rose, what have they done to you?'

She knew that voice. Her eyes snapped open as she threw the duvet away from her face to find the Doctor standing right in front of her, watching her sadly.

'Are you real?' she whispered, barely allowing herself to believe, 'Please... are you really here?'

'I'm here Rose. I'm real.'

Without any more thought, without even considering that it could be another trick, she leapt out of the bed, straight into his waiting arms. As he wrapped her in a close embrace, every lost memory seemed to rush back to her, the white fog rising like a curtain on a stage to leave stark clarity. He gently stroked her hair, holding her as she trembled and cried.

'Doctor... oh god, I thought I'd never see you again.' She gasped, her voice muffled as she pressed her face into his shoulder, 'I... I forgot... everything. Mum... Mickey, the TARDIS... Everything, just... gone. And I was... I was so scared. I couldn't get away... I couldn't stop myself from being scared. '

'Shhh, it's okay, Rose. It's alright to be scared. That's what this place is designed to make you do. It's okay."

His voice was calm and soothing, but in the Doctor's hearts, the Oncoming Storm was swirling, anger building, atmosphere crackling. To see this strong, almost fearless woman, weeping in fear... it broke something inside him. It made him want to make the thing responsible pay, and pay dearly.

But being close to her, being this near to her, not just physically, but to be the emotional stable that she ran to, being the one holding her as she regained her composure, he lost a little of his ferocity. He boxed away the creature that brewed within his chest, hiding away the maelstrom from his voice and face. She would see only what he wanted her to see. She would be shown only worry and compassion, care and relief at seeing her alive and safe with him again. She'd had enough fear for this day. He wouldn't become another nightmare for her.

She pulled away from him, though she seemed reluctant to leave the safety of his embrace, and wiped away the stray tears with the sleeve of her parka jacket. She looked up into his face, studying to true to find something.

"I'm sorry I shouted before. At Mickey's," she said quietly, averting her eyes as if she were a child expecting to be scolded.

The Doctor was silent for a moment, his face turning slowly from blank, to a wide, bemused smile, then to laughing, with which he grabbed her up in another huge hug, spinning her around and delighting in her laughter as she joined in his joviality.

'Oh, you silly, fan_ta_stic girl, that doesn't matter to me anymore. I'm just...' he placed her gently back on her feet, 'I'm glad you're okay. I...' he stopped for a moment, choosing his words, 'I thought I'd lost you.'

A smile slowly worked its way across her face slowly, lighting up her face and his hearts. It was amazing how quickly this young woman bounced back from such horrific circumstances, which would make any average person demand to be taken home immediately.

'Oh, come now Doctor,' she grinned, 'I told you already. You're stuck with me. It'll take more than that to get rid of me.'

'Oh yeah,' he grinned back, 'silly me.'

With that they were the Doctor and Rose again, back to how it should be, with he the leader, the teacher, the friend, and she the willing and intently listening companion.

She sat heavily on the bed, upon which he joined her, and she clapper her hands together, back to her cheery self.

'So!' she announced, 'you gonna tell me what we're up against? Cos I dunno about you, but I've seen some pretty weird stuff so far, and not the sort that I usually have fun around.'

There was something about the way she said it, which made him tack 'without you there' on the end of her comment.

'What have you seen?' he asked, genuinely curious.

'Well, first there was the werewolf. You know, from yesterday... wait... that can't be right...'

'What?' the Doctor's ears pricked up at the uncertainty in her voice.

'Well, you know, none of it really makes any sense, but... I saw the werewolf twice. But... that's not-'

'Sorry, I haven't really given you an explanation have I?'

'Slacking, ain'tcha? Usually you'd be half way though by now,' she winked, 'Go on. Do what you do best. Enlighten me. Dazzle me with your scientific explanations and look at me like an idiot when I don't get a word you're saying. But, just do me a favour, yeah? Don't do you're usual hundred-miles-per-hour, yeah?' she rubbed her head absently, 'my brain's just not up to it right now.'

'Still lightheaded?' he asked, which she answered with a slightly surprised look, before she seemed to remember telling him earlier about her condition, and nodded, 'I think what I have to say will tell you a little about that too,' he said gently, 'Right, so let's start at the beginning. I find things usually make more sense that way. So, first there were the kids, all those children disappearing all over London. Most of them weren't even connected, other than they were about the ages... seven to fifteen wasn't it that Mickey said. Probably a few younger or older to, but all around that age. They were all still children.'

'So... no, I'm failing to see where you're heading with this.'

'Well, my guess, and as you well know, my guesses tend to be pretty reliable, is that... well, I'm sure you've probably already guessed that this is alien based, that much is a no-brainer. No human in this time sector would have the technology to create a hologram this well constructed,' he waved a hand to include the room that they were sitting in.

'You mean...' Rose said quietly.

'Everything you've seen, everything I've seen, it's all been a hologram. A thoroughly realistic, fan_ta_stically put together hologram, admittedly, but still nothing here is real. Nothing at all.'

'So this... but, wait, this is my bedroom. Well, how it used to be anyway. And all those things that I've seen... the Daleks, the Slitheen, the Gelth... they _are_ real. If this is just a hologram, how could they have been there?

He studied her confused face. This place really was getting to her. Usually she was such a bright, intelligent spark of a person. This place was draining away her essence. He had to get her thinking, and soon.

'Well... how can I put this? Remember how I told you, back on Platform One, the TARDIS got inside your head, translated alien languages into English for you?' she nodded, 'Well that's close to what's going on now. That's why you've got a headache. You've been wired into the ship. About five thousand megawatts of electricity flowing through your head, bound to have some effect on you. Don't worry though; it won't do you any lasting damage. It's not actually even doing any damage at all. It's raking through your mind, trying to find out what scares you most.

'She's how I found you by the way. The TARDIS. When Mickey told me that you were gone, the TARDIS seemed the right place to start looking, since I'd already been to your mother's on the way to Mickey's.'

He told her about the crowd gathered outside, about how boy told him about the TARDIS' light shining and what it meant.

'You see, it was her that helped you talk to me. Like I said, she gets into your head, translates for you, but to do that she has to move things around in tiny little ways. This means that you're connected, in a very, very small way, but which grows the longer you're around her. People like Adam, who only came along for a little time, and Mickey and Jackie, who pretty much just walked in and back out again, they'll lose their connection pretty quickly. But you... somehow, even I don't really know how, but you _used_ the TARDIS to help you calling out to me.'

'I was thinking about you,' she said hesitantly, a blush that the Doctor could have imagined building in her cheeks, half hidden in the low light of the street lamp outside, her brow furrowed as she tried to remember. 'I... I was on Satellite Five... all those Daleks, the Emperor... I was about to be "Exterminated"... and then, I just... thought about you. Nothing else, just you, wondering if you'd ever...' she broke off, leaving the sentence hanging between them for a moment, 'and then I was in this... I don't know... no-space. Nothing at all... just darkness. Just... the darkness.'

'Your mind reached out for me. The TARDIS has taken quite a shine to you,' he said, giving her wide grin and a nudge in the ribs, 'quite unlike I've seen her doing before. She pushed you along, making a bridge for you to make the connection. But it took a lot of energy to keep that connection going for any length of time. In the end, the connection just cut out. But...' he added with a mysterious smile, 'because you used the TARDIS to find me, I could use her to find you.'

A smile of understanding shone from Rose's face, her eyes glittering with excitement at catching onto his way of thinking at last, 'You traced me, like that plastic head of the fake Mickey! Back when you were trying to find the Nestene Consciousness!'

'There we are!' the Doctor said, joining in her excitement, his hearts warmed at the sight of her thinking properly again, 'that's more like it, bit of a smile. And you're exactly right!' he paused for a moment, frowning, 'Okay, now I know I'm getting old. That seems like years ago. But yeah, the same sort of policy applies, only the signal was much easier for the TARDIS to follow, as the signal was boosted through herself. So she brought me here. That's how I found out what's happened to you and all the children here.'

'But you haven't told me yet... why?'

'Well, I'm still working on figuring that part out. This place is having a bit of an adverse effect on my head, just as it is yours. This place obviously doesn't like us thinking of a way out of here, understandably. But, as I said before, this is all a hologram, and I think it would be easier if we got out of here.'

With that he reached into his inside breast pocket, aiming it at the wall as he pulled Rose up by the waist to stand beside him.

He pressed the button.

The sequence was as the Doctor had already seen, but to Rose it was shocking to see the already dim room turned an even duller grey, the yellow light from the street light outside losing its brightness. As the room began to fold down to the floor, and the floor pulled in and in to disappear under her feet, all Rose could do was stare. No matter how long she travelled with the Doctor, he still never managed to stop amazing her. They were standing in the darkness again.

The Doctor put the Sonic Screwdriver back into his pocket, realising as he did that he had yet to remove his hand from her waist. He smiled sheepishly at her, though she didn't seem to notice, and took his arm away. The feel of his fingers sliding from around her seemed to shake her from her shock.

'I've been here before. This is where I talked to you before. Well, somewhere like here anyway. What is this place?'

'It's hard to explain exactly. It's like... a place between sleep and consciousness. The no-space between. Like when you have a light nap, or more...' he clicked his fingers, 'have you ever heard of purgatory?' she shook her head, 'it's a state of being after death, caught between heaven and hell. It's very much like that. For what ever reason, you and everyone here are being forced to live though their fears, endure their nightmares, wired into the ship like... oh, that's it! Wait, wait, wait, just hang on a minute, think it through! Shh!'

He held up a finger, to tell Rose to be quiet, not that she would interrupt him when he wore that look on his face. That look was so familiar to her. That expression showed him working it all out.

'The way you were wired up! Oh, that's it. I hate being in this place, it makes me so stupid!' he began tugging at his hair, hitting his head repeatedly with the heel of his hand, 'stop messing with my head!' he called into the darkness, 'that's why I didn't get it earlier. It's so simple, it's been staring me in the face. Hang on a minute, work it out, think it through. It concentrates on humans. But not just that, children. But why children? What do the children have that adults don't? Come on Rose, use that mind of yours. Don't let this place get to you too.'

She had thought for a moment that he had forgotten her presence, but at his sudden turn on her she floundered.

'Erm, I dunno. Fun?' she hazarded.

'True, but not that exactly. Not far from it,' he was trying desperately trying to get her thinking, to get her back to being herself again and shake off the effects of the ship's control.

She thought for a few moments, before finally the sparkle came back into her eyes again.

'Imagination?' she suggested, with much more confidence than before.

'Oh, that's it! You wonderful girl, that's it! They have brilliant imaginations! Helped along by a few good books, a child's mind is a goldmine of amazing ideas. But as soon as they start imagining good things, they start imagining the bad things twice as much. There's a connection there; kid's like being scared. Revel in it! That's what keeps ghost stories going. Sci-fi programs. Halloween. All that. They delight in the shivers down their spine. The flood of adrenaline. Goosebumps. They can't get enough of it.

'But the thing is, they like it when they have some minute form of control, or a knowledge that there is something stopping the bad things getting them.' He was in full explanation mode now, the words tumbling out of his mouth as soon as they appeared in his mind, 'Some form of a fail-safe. Sci-fi programs for kids usually have some sort of a happy ending. Ghost stories are made up. Halloween monsters are just people dressed up and they can't actually do them physical harm. But then...' he gave her a significant look, 'then come the nightmares.'

Realisation dawned on her face, but the Doctor didn't stop talking. He was working this out just as much as he was explaining it to her. 'You have no control over the nightmares. They feel real, and the mind tells you its all real. How are you to know that it's not?' he was pacing now, putting the last jigsaw pieces into place, 'the ship, the floor, the whole place, it was made of this metal. I could smell it. Oh my head!' he ran a hand roughly through his hair, tugging at it as if he wished to pull it out at the roots, 'what was it!? I knew that smell! What was it! If only I could think without this stupid ship holding me back! I'm getting old, my head's too full of stuff! Think, think, think, think!' he clicked his fingers in quick succession, baring his teeth in anger at his inability to come to the answer, 'An alloy, a mixture of... what is it?'

He was silent for a few moments, continuing his pacing with his hands tugging at his hair, throwing it into complete disarray, walking across the nothingness.

'Myatron!' he exploded, making Rose jump in surprise, 'Myatron! Oh that's it! The planet of Myatron! It's people mined the planet for the metal that's named after it. I knew I recognised that smell from somewhere!' he finally seemed to remember that he had actually been talking to someone other than himself, turning at last to Rose, who was still standing where she had at the start of his rant, watching him silently with a fond smile on her face. 'The Mytrens looked pretty similar to us, but their physiology is designed differently to live in an environment with less oxygen, more carbon dioxide. Their lungs are bigger than yours, better at extracting oxygen from the air. Anyway, they mine deep into the planet, trying to find this metal called myatron. Brilliant stuff, absolutely amazing. You can only melt it once, meld it into any shape you want, let it cool and then it's completely indestructible. Never bend, never rust, never scratch. Doesn't matter how thin you make it, it's just impossible to break. They used it to make their ships. Another way they were different from your lot; they were much better with technology. They evolved about the same time as humans did, but by the time you lot were dancing around the invention of the wheel, they'd already designed plasma TVs,' he paused, giving her a meaningful look, 'then one day... poof! They all just disappeared. Every ship just... fell off the radar.'

Rose nodded solemnly. She knew what he meant by that. She'd seen that look flicker over his face to many times to doubt what caused it.

'The Time War?'

'The Time War,' he confirmed, 'the ships finally found something they weren't immune to damage from. Fifty thousand Dalek ships, all firing at them at once. Nothing could parry that sort of attack.'

'But this one survived.'

'Seems so,' the Doctor acknowledged, 'it must have fallen through the cracks of time and space. Just like that Dalek in Van Statten's museum.'

'But... why take kids? And, if it's taking kids, why did it take me and you too?'

'Energy. The children's imaginations are being used as power cells to power the ship. I knew that there was something odd about the way the children were plugged in. The brain produces electricity, energy. When you dream, when you're scared, you create more. The reason it targeted you was because, with the things you've seen, and with you constantly using your head to work out problems with me, you were a perfect choice. You've seen things for real that no-one else on this planet can even imagine. You've got a lot more to feed this ship than anyone else. Well,' he grinned ruefully, 'except me, of course.'

His face fell for a moment, remembering the hologram girl's words. But then he was grinning again, clapping his hands together and rubbing them. 'Right! It's time I went and paid a visit to our delightful host!'

'You what?' Rose was rather taken aback by the Doctor's rapid mood changes.

'I'm gonna have to leave you, but don't worry. I've got plenty of work for you to attend to.'

Rose didn't like the sound of this.


End file.
